Author: Ryan Leston

‘RuneScape’ lands August release date for new Necromancy skill

Raise the dead with the new Necromancy combat skill

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RuneScape is getting its first new stand-alone combat skill – Necromancy.

The brand-new combat skill will launch on August 7 and it’s free to players up to level 20.

“Necromancy will be one of RuneScape’s premiere updates for 2023,” said an official release. “The new combat style will challenge both experienced and new players alike as they embrace their inner darkness and learn this ancient combat art across a lore-filled and deep adventure.”

Along with the announcement, RuneScape developer Jagex revealed a new trailer:

The new powers players will wield with Necromancy are described as “arcane and dark” – much as you might expect. As part of the new skill, players will be tasked with entering Gielinor’s underworld to commune with the dead and ultimately free them.

“Together they will grow their powers and defeat The First Necromancer.”

The Necromancer skill is essentially tied into a new quest line that pits you against two new bosses – Hermod, the Spirit of War, and The First Necromancer himself. The questline also introduces those new mechanics, unlocks, and rewards.

As for the combat skill itself, Necromancy is delivered unto your foes via the Death Guard – a new weapon that allows the use of necrotic skills. It pairs with the Skull Lantern off-hand which allows players to conjure the dead to aid them in battle.

Alongside the new combat skill, there are also rituals – a non-combat training method that allows players to gain experience and gather materials by attracting spirits to the City of Urm, releasing them into the Well of Souls. It’s essentially a puzzle mini-game that lets players channel necrotic energy.

Incantations allow Necromancers to enhance their skills – using Runecrafting, you can create four new Necrotic Runes that you’ll use to cast these powerful new spells.

“Witness Death’s plea for the heroes of Gielinor to pick up the dark art of Necromancy to rebalance the cycle of life and death,” says the official release.

RuneScape originally launched back in 2021 and is one of the longest-running MMORPGs in gaming.

In other news, a new Red Dead Redemption rating has sparked rumours of an upcoming remake or remaster.

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Steam reportedly bans games with AI-made content

AI-created assets won’t be accepted by the platform

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Valve is reportedly blocking games with AI-generated content from being sold on Steam.

As the AI debate rages on, Steam has taken a pretty definitive stance – it will no longer approve games that are submitted with AI-generated assets.

A reddit post from industry veteran Simon Carless has revealed that a game he submitted which contained AI images was blocked by Steam.

“I tried to release a game about a month ago, with a few assets that were fairly obviously AI-generated,” he revealed. “My plan was to just submit a rougher version of the game, with 2-3 assets/sprites that were admittedly obviously AI generated from the hands, and to improve them prior to actually releasing the game as I wasn’t aware Steam had any issues with AI-generated art.”

Instead, he received the following e-mail in response:

“While we strive to ship most titles submitted to us, we cannot ship games for which the developer does not have all of the necessary rights.”

“After reviewing, we have identified intellectual property in [Game Name Here] which appears to belongs to one or more third parties. In particular, [Game Name Here] contains art assets generated by artificial intelligence that appears to be relying on copyrighted material owned by third parties. As the legal ownership of such AI-generated art is unclear, we cannot ship your game while it contains these AI-generated assets, unless you can affirmatively confirm that you own the rights to all of the IP used in the data set that trained the AI to create the assets in your game.”

Essentially, Steam failed the build of Carless’s game, giving him a single opportunity to remove content that he does not have the rights to.

“If you fail to remove all such content, we will not be able to ship your game on Steam, and this app will be banned.”

Although Carless removed the images, his game was subsequently banned.

Clarifying further, it seems that Steam no longer accepts AI-generated text, either.

“Looks like AI-created text is also being flagged in some cases,” said Carless. He then referenced a Twitter post that reveals Steam games cannot “contain art and/or text assets generated by artificial intelligence that may be relying on copyrighted material owned by third parties.”

Steam’s stance is already being billed as inconsistent, especially due to other titles relying on artificial intelligence even more.

One such title, This Girl Does Not Exist, was marketed as the first of its kind due to being entirely AI-generated.

“Everything you will see here, including art, story, characters, and even voice-over, was generated by machine learning AI,” says the game’s description (via VGC).

In other news, Destiny 2 has added Lance Reddick’s final voice lines to the game.

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‘Destiny 2’ releases Lance Reddick’s last voice lines

He famously voiced the Titan Vanguard Zavala

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Lance Reddick’s final Destiny 2 voice lines have now been added to the game.

After the death of Destiny 2 voice actor Lance Reddick, it looks as though his final voice lines have now been added to the game by developers at Bungie.

According to Destiny 2 developer Robert Brookes, he overheard those lines while playing the game just a couple of days ago.

“Sobering moment listening to the final radio conversation in the HELM today,” he said on Twitter. “Pretty sure these were the last lines I ever recorded with Lance.”

“It couldn’t be a more fitting tone about acceptance and growth,” he added. “Really nice stuff.”

Reddick took on the role of Commander Zavala with the launch of the original Destiny back in 2014 and has voiced the stoic Titan ever since.

Now, his last voice lines can be heard during a radio conversation in the HELM or Hub for Emergency Logistics and Maneuvres – a Vanguard operations outpost which can be found on the map near The Traveller.

As for whether this is the last time we’ll hear Reddick in the game, that’s a little more unclear.

Brooke said that this message may be both the last voice line recorded in the studio with Reddick as well as the last line of his to appear in the game. However, he just doesn’t know for sure.

“Possibly both? Unsure,” he explained. “But I’m pretty sure the session we recorded this radio was the last one with Lance. That said we don’t record content in chronological order, so there may still be something? But what I said is what I said, it was the last lines I ever recorded with Lance.”

In other news, it’s been revealed that a DayZ sequel is in the works thanks to new details that emerged during the Microsoft FTC court hearing.

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‘Baldur’s Gate 3’ PC release date gets moved forward, PS5 pushed back

Head back to Faerûn a little bit sooner

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Upcoming RPG sequel Baldur’s Gate 3 has been moved forward, if you’re on PC.

Larian Studios has confirmed that Baldur’s Gate 3 will now launch almost a month early for PC on August 3, 2023, while the PS5 release will come a little later on September 6, 2023.

“We’ve always been a studio that aims to release on as many platforms as possible, in order of readiness,” said director of publishing, Michael Douse “We’ve also aimed for the highest possible quality on every platform we’ve released on.”

It may be delayed by a week, but the PS5 version of Baldur’s Gate 3 is still moving forward.

“We’re at a point where we’re reaching 60fps on PlayStation 5, which is remarkable considering the breadth and depth Baldur’s Gate 3 aims for,” said Douse. “It features over 170 hours of cinematics, more than twice the length of the entirety of Game of Thrones, and more than three times the dialogue of all three Lord of the Rings novels combined. It is a massive, expansive game that truly brings D&D to life, with multiplayer and split-screen co-op, and at a scale that’s roughly 4 times that of our previous game, Divinity: Original Sin 2.”

Considering its options, Larian Studios decided to forge ahead with the early PC release despite PS5 delays – a move that could be considered divisive when it comes to the player base.

“Reaching a technical bar that matches our design ambitions felt like the right move, while holding back the PC version when we knew we’d be ready felt like the wrong move in such a busy launch period,” said Douse.

Although an Xbox release is reportedly still in the works, it’s unclear when this will launch after the studio hit some “issues” with this version of the game.

In other news, Microsoft considered buying Sega and Bungie to help accelerate Xbox Game Pass.

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A ‘DayZ’ sequel is in the works

No release date has been confirmed as yet

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Zombie survival game DayZ is getting a long-awaited sequel.

The multiplayer survival game was released for PC on December 13, 2018, and after heading to both Xbox One and PS4, it looks as though the popular zombie title is finally getting a follow-up.

The game has not yet been announced, with no word from developer Bohemia Interactive.

However, the upcoming DayZ sequel was revealed during the discovery process of the Federal Trade Commission’s ongoing court case to halt Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

An internal Xbox document submitted as evidence in the hearing between Microsoft and the FTC revealed the company’s acquisition strategy. On a slide discussing Bohemia Interactive, additional notes flat-out confirmed that DayZ 2 is in the works.

“Dev working on Arma Reforged, Arma 4, and DayZ 2,” it confirmed.

Although the two upcoming Arma games have already been announced, this is the first we’ve heard of Bohemia revisiting its popular DayZ game.

“While we are expanding our focus regarding the possibilities of the DayZ game, brand, and team itself, we can’t offer too many details at the moment,” a Bohemia Interactive spokesperson told IGN. “There are numerous projects Bohemia Interactive dev teams are currently exploring/working on, but they will be officially revealed when & only after we feel the time is right.”

DayZ originally began life as a mod for Arma 2 before eventually becoming an early-access game in its own right.

The upcoming sequel is just one of a number of revelations unearthed thanks to the ongoing FTC court case against Microsoft. It was also revealed that Microsoft considered acquiring Sega as well as Destiny 2 developer Bungie.

In other news, Halo fans have been invited to join in with the world’s biggest performance of the game’s iconic chant.

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New ‘Red Dead Redemption’ rating sparks rumours of a remake

South Korea offers a timely update to the sequel’s rating

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A new rating for Rockstar Games‘ 2010 Western Red Dead Redemption could mean a remake or remaster is on the cards.

Originally reported by Gematsu, the Game Rating and Administration Committee of Korea published a new rating for the 2010 action game on June 15 —13 years after the game was originally released.

The new rating in South Korea is listed separately to the original game, both of which have been granted an 18 rating. The Game Rating and Administration Committee of Korea has been a source of several leaks over the last few years, including new Silent Hill games.

The game rating organization was responsible for the premature indication of upcoming releases such as Marvel’s Midnight Suns and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

As a result, the rating has led to fans suggesting that a remaster or even a remake maybe in the works.

Red Dead Redemption. Credit: Rockstar Games.

“I gave up on a remaster or remake some time ago,” said one Reddit user. “Does this mean it is actually happening?!”

A remaster has long been requested by Red Dead Redemption fans, especially following the huge success of its sequel, Red Dead Redemption 2. Additionally, the original Red Dead Redemption, along with its Undead Nightmare expansion, never made its way to PC — leading some fans to suggest the 2010 game will finally make its PC debut.

“Considering most of the areas of RDR1 are in RDR2, I think it would be made in RDR2’s engine,” said another Reddit user. “That would be pretty fast work all things considered.”

Red Dead Redemption tells the story of former outlaw John Marston who’s forced to hunt down members of his old gang by the Bureau of Investigation.

Last year, it was reported that a remaster for Red Dead Redemption was “on the table,” but had been put on hold after Rockstar was forced to apologise for its messy GTA: The Trilogy remaster.

In other news, Fallout: London has been delayed to avoid clashing with the upcoming sci-fi game, Starfield.

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‘Fallout: London’ has been delayed to avoid clashing with ‘Starfield’

The ambitious mod will launch later this year

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Fan-made mod Fallout: London is getting pushed back, thanks to the latest release date for Starfield.

The long-awaited mod has been generating a lot of buzz within the Fallout 4 community, due to its size and scale.

Now, developers have confirmed that its release is being pushed back to later this year.

“We’re not providing a specific date, but I can openly say that it will be in the fourth quarter of the year,” said project lead Dean Carter in a new video update (via PCGamesN).

“You might be wondering ‘why so late?’ Well, initially we had hoped for it to be in the third quarter, as in the one that’s coming up. However, a certain space game got delayed and is now scheduled to come out around the same time that we had planned. So, as a result, we’re making our release for the last quarter.”

Fallout: London. Credit: Fallout London Team

As for the mod itself, Fallout: London adds an entirely new, and decidedly British, setting to Fallout 4.

There are mutant badgers, palace guard uniforms, and even working trains that can be boarded. However, it looks as though we’ll have to wait a little longer before we can play it.

“This not only gives you all more time to play Starfield, but also allows us more time for playtesting and bug fixing, so it’s a win-win situation, right?” added Carter. “We just appreciate your patience. So, expect us around then.”

It’s pretty impressive, and as a DLC-sized conversion, it’s been getting a lot of attention — especially for its previous addition of a ghoulish Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles, which developers have since decided to remove.

Fallout: London. Credit: FOLON

Fallout: London is expected to launch around October to December 2023.

“Lucky for you, is the fact that we don’t have any shareholders breathing down our necks, to force us to release things when they’re not ready,” said Carter. “Our vow to you is that we’ll not release something rushed or broken. So, if for whatever reason the stars and planets don’t align, I’ll be the first to send out the yellow notification, lay on the fur carpet, and say ‘I’m sorry.’ But things are all good for the end of the year so far.”

Last year, Carter spoke to NME about the challenges of capturing British culture within the world of Fallout.

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This free browser game lets you play Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg’s cancelled cage fight

Choose your favourite billionaire and duke it out

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A cancelled cage fight between Elon Musk vs Mark Zuckerberg can finally happen, thanks to this new browser game.

The tech billionaires’ rivalry started on social media when Musk challenged Zuckerberg, who has trained in jiu-jitsu, to a cage fight.

“I’m up for a cage match if he is,” said Musk on Twitter, with Zuckerberg responding via Instagram Stories to say: “Send me location.”

Now, WrestleBros developer Blue Wizard has created Zuck v Musk — a 2D wrestling game featuring the pair coming to blows.

The game was created by Bejeweled designer and Plants vs Zombies creative director Jason Kapalka.

It’s essentially a re-skinned version of WrestleBros, with players able to choose between Musk and Zuckerberg before beating down the other with classic wrestling moves, including piledrivers and flying elbows.

The controls are simple — position yourself with the arrow keys and hammer the space bar to deliver a volley of punches. When your opponent is down, go wild with the spacebar once more or jump in the air while attacking to deliver some fun aerial moves — you can even bounce off the ropes for some added flair.

Zuckerberg, who co-founded Facebook and Meta, seems to be up for the bizarre fight as Meta spokesperson Iska Saric told The Verge. “The story speaks for itself,” they claimed, adding that Zuckerberg was not joking when he accepted the challenge.

Musk responded by tweeting a proposed location for the fight: “Vegas Octagon.”

However, it’s unlikely Musk and Zuckerbeg’s proposed cage match will come to pass — last week, Elon Musk’s mother stepped in and “cancelled the fight“.

Elsewhere, Twitter is currently battling a lawsuit worth £180million, as the National Music Publishers Association has alleged that Elon Musk’s social media site has infringed copyright for over 1,700 different songs.

Twitter is yet to respond to the allegations.

In other news, Microsoft considered buying Bungie and SEGA to “accelerate” Game Pass.

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Barbie’s pink Chevrolet is coming to ‘Forza Horizon 5’

Head out on the highway in Barbie and Ken’s new rides

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Forza Horizon 5 is getting Barbie’s iconic pink Corvette from the upcoming Barbie movie.

Microsoft has revealed that Barbie will be racing into its flagship Forza game with the addition of the classic 1956 Chevrolet Corvette EV Corvette.

“Bringing Barbie’s signature flair to our gaming platform, we’re honoring all that there is to love about this iconic role model,” said Kirsten Ward, the vice president of Xbox integrated marketing, in an official statement. “Her persevering optimism, wide-ranging career journey and never-ending capacity for self-discovery.

However, that’s not all – you can cruise around Mexico in Ken’s 2022 GMC Hummer EV Pickup, too.

Both cars are being made available to all players today and will be available in Forza Horizon 5 via the in-game Message Center for players to download.

Once downloaded, the cars will appear in your in-game garage.

As well as these tie-in rides, Microsoft is partnering with Warner Bros. Pictures and Mattel to highlight some of the ways women can get involved in gaming with a special video.

“Hear about the different careers in gaming as those who work on the Forza franchise speak about their own career journeys, motivations, and personal Barbie connections,” said Ward. “Fans can also see the video debut as part of a very special livestream on July 14th from the World of Barbie, where fans can learn about Barbie and see our hosts race in Barbie and Ken rides from the movie, in Forza Horizon 5.”

If that’s not enough, there’s also the chance to win a gaudy custom Xbox Series S that’s been designed with Barbie’s dreamhouse in mind.

Custom Barbie Xbox Series S. Credit: Xbox Game Studios.

You can enter the prize draw from July 10 at Microsoft Rewards. Meanwhile, the Barbie movie opens in the UK on July 21, 2023.

In other news, Escape From Tarkov banned and unbanned a streamer in a controversial move to curb datamining.

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‘Escape From Tarkov’ bans streamer in controversial stance against datamining

One player has been banned, then unbanned, for datamining

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A streamer has been banned (and unbanned) from Escape From Tarkov for datamining, after developer Battlestate Games published a controversial statement standing against the practice.

Battlestate Games made the movie to ban streamer LogicalSolutions after they supposedly shared information gained through datamining, which involves players trawling through existing game files to find hints about upcoming updates.

“You shouldn’t share how you datamine and everything,” said game director Nikita Buyanov in a supposed conversation with the streamer. “We saw it so you broke the rules again.”

LogicalSolutions denied sharing any datamined information since Tarkov launched a recent crackdown on datamining… but Buyanov simply said: “you lie”.

Confronted with screenshots of datamined information they shared on stream, LogicalSolutions pointed out that it was “old data” from before the crackdown.

They were promptly unbanned following the incident, with little communication from Battlestate Games as to what happened.

“I’m very glad that Nikita or the folk collectively at Battlestate changed their mind,” they said on stream (via PC Gamer). “I’m very thankful. But I’d still like there to be some kind of communication. I wish we could have a conversation.”

Of course, datamining isn’t just seen in the Escape from Tarkov community. Live service games are often datamined by savvy players who trawl through game files using data tools to gain hints about upcoming content, with some datamining efforts yielding swathes of data about upcoming updates and DLC.

Escape From Tarkov Streets of Tarkov collapsed crane extract

When it comes to Tarkov, LogicalSolutions has been a prolific dataminer in the past. However, Battlestate Games recently warned that it would begin “taking action” against dataminers.

“From the time of this statement being published we will start taking action towards all the personalities sharing the datamined information,” it confirmed. “This will result in all the in-game accounts involved in dataming and/or sharing data originating from datamining being banned and platforms getting involved receiving warnings and further actions taken afterwards.”

“We do this for the majority of our community who want to enjoy the events, the game, and the development of it, as the company intended. We thank you for all your ongoing support and are looking forward to the future of Tarkov and your part in it.”

However, Battlestate’s stance has been ridiculed by fans of the game who believe that the practice isn’t something the studio should be fighting.

In other news, League of Legends is getting a new game mode as part of the upcoming Soul Fighter event.

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